The Blueberry Producers Association of Argentina's Mesopotamia (Apama) reported that 85% of the farmers in the region had already completed the harvest of fresh fruit, an indication that they were having a successful end of season and that the efforts made by the sector after the crisis of 2013, when frost devastated much of the plantations, had been a hit. The NEA region leads the country's exports with almost 8,000 tons.
Apama announced the closing numbers of the 2014 blueberry harvest throughout the country and, in particular, of the NEA region, which leads exports this year.
More than 15,000 tons were exported until week 47 of the harvest, and a thousand more will be exported by the end of the season. The NEA, North Eastern Argentina (Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones), leads exports with more than 7,700 tons, followed by the NOA, Northwest Argentina (Tucumán), Buenos Aires 5,700 and 1,700.
6,800 tons of the more than 7,500 tons exported by the NEA correspond to the production of Entre Rios, mostly from plantations in Concordia.
The United States is still the country's main target market, and estimates are they will have imported approximately 10,000 tons by the end of this season. Also exported to, to a lesser extent is, Canada, UK, and Asia, among others.
Juan Scordia, president of Apama, said the leadership of the Mesopotamian region was undoubtedly due to "the great effort made by producers, agricultural engineers, and workers, who managed to reverse a disastrous 2013 for the sector and position themselves at the head of the exports, leading the production of novelty fruit in the southern hemisphere."